Evanescent
by graynita
Summary: After moving to a small and mysterious town run by a biker gang, Uraraka runs into a very explosive member while exploring, and she can't help but ride along with him. [BIKER AU]
1. The Rumble of a Motorcycle

**Hey guys! Welcome to my new fic. It's Kacchako based. Ive been working on the story outline/this first chapter. I hope you enjoy, leave me a review on your thoughts?**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, or it's characters. Horikoshi owns BNHA, not me, lol.**

 **x-x-x**

 _She_ _was a number of things; heavy, broken, and guilty._

 _Her_ _legs felt like they weighed ten tons, her heart even heavier. The ink on her wrist spelling out a birth date, and one over her right breast had pain embedded in it that reminded her of too many things. Her clothes were soaked, which added a couple more pounds, and her feet trudged towards headquarters - regretfully alone._

 _Broken, she was. Broken with thick layers of guilt and dead love and all the things that just made it all worse._ It's her fault, _her mind screamed._ It's on you, you have to tell them the truth.

You have to explain to them why you have nobody with you.

 _The lights were on, cars and motorcycles were lined up outside. The rain that fell from heaven - tears from the_ fake _belief, carefully hid any small detail._

 _Ochako knew they were inside, though._

 _Minutes_ _passed, and she was outside the door. Minutes passed as she stood there, body shaking from fear, the cold, and trauma, as her mind raced to find something to say to them. Something to say that wouldn't be so harsh._

 _With a hand over her stomach, aching pain and anger flooded over, she knocked._

 _The door opened, revealing Aizawa. His face was sullen, eyebags darker than normal. Seeing her lit a hopeful light in his eyes, but returned back when he noticed she was alone._

 _He_ _said nothing._

 _Even if he was silent, she felt the judgement piling over her being. Guilt, anger, regret._ _He stepped aside._

 _She_ _barely managed through, before collapsing, the last thing she hears besides alarmed voices of her soon-to-be ex-family, was the deep voice of a man with spiky blonde hair and red eyes._

 _"Angel."_

 _Tears_ _gathered in her eyes before they shut completely._

 _"Remember to be aware."_

 **x-x-x**

Musutafu was a mixture of light and darkness. The skies were gray and gloomy, but the sun still managed to shine it's way through the clouds' thickness. It was in the middle of autumn, so it was chilly but colorful all at once. The setting was perfect, and Ochako didn't regret moving here at all.

A twenty-three year old with no income, that's what she was. She went to college, and graduated almost a year ago, studying journalism, but also having a certificate of medical assisting from high school. She was very much put together, but also not at the same time.

Moving was difficult. She knew this from the many moves her parents had to make in her childhood, the construction company having to transport somewhere else in order to build. Both that, and her family were struggling. She couldn't get a part-time job until she was fifteen, so she spent her time studying hard towards a career that could pay well until then, but suddenly realizing a few months before graduation that it wasn't her true passion, and that she really didn't enjoy it. Her parents knew, of course, they just nodded when she confronted them, said they were aware, but chose to wait until she came to terms with it on her own.

Her passion was writing. There wasn't a wide supply range of good paying jobs around that she could get, so she chose to move to a smaller town, one towards the South. Her parents were only a few hours away by car, so it wasn't difficult. She needed to get out of their hair, so she looked for houses and found a good deal in Musutafu, and here she was.

She had a medical assisting certificate and a degree in journalism. It was odd, but it was all she had. From aiming towards the medical field, to pursuing writing - maybe she could write a book that could gain publicity to live off of as well as giving to her parents.

It was an unrealistic dream, she knew. Ochako couldn't help but hope though. Writing a book, much less a _good_ one, would take her years, and she didn't have that time.

She was all over the place.

Her car barely ran, her luggage was lighter than it should be, and she had one of those old and outdated smartphones. Her schedule was also a mess, weirdly though from her lack of having a job. She managed to pay the first month for her new home, so she had another entire month to gather money to pay the next. She'd have less time than that, though, because she actually had to find a job first. She only had so much money left, and she had to buy food with it as well.

To put it bluntly, Ochako was fucked.

 _Usually_ , her life was planned out well. She planned ahead of time, her schedule being well organized and put together.

Key word: _usually_.

The second she quit the medical field, she knew all the research and buildup she did to prepare herself for that particular career would be partly useless. That was negatively exciting for her to experience, being on the brink of entering a collage, and deciding to change her entire path last minute.

Her parents had told her they didn't want her life to just be dedicated to working for them. They wanted her to pursue her dream, her passion. So she left home to start anew. Despite her parents saying they wanted her to have more in life, that didn't mean she _wouldn't_ still try to help them while doing something she loved.

At first, when buying the house, she thought the awesome deal she saw on it would lessen her issues. No, it did the opposite. She didn't consider the fact that she needed a job as soon as possible, that she had no friends or family here (the closest being her parents obviously, but they were hours away), and the second she drove through with her groaning vehicle into the town, that it was definitely more different and unique than what she was used to.

The first thing you notice is how old everything looks. There were old buildings around where she used to live, but she only noticed one or two looked newer, and that was probably because they were recently built.

The second thing being was how the streets and sidewalks were nearly deserted. It was almost like life was a rarity here. (This fact made her even more anxious about getting a job.)

And third, the people who were there, sat outside a supermarket with bikes around them, wearing leather jackets and ripped jeans. From afar they looked like ratty scoundrels who were apart of dangerous gangs, but as she drove by - getting their attention, probably because of her loud, loud, car, she noticed the softness and curiosity on their faces. Confusion appeared, with some excitement.

After some pondering, Ochako didn't have a clue if it was a good thing or not.

They radiated the type of energy that drew you in. There were three, all male. One man had red spiky hair with matching eyes. Another one was a bit shorter, sporting yellow hair with a black streak running down a bundle of strands, and the last had slightly longer hair that almost reached his shoulders, black hair. They all sat on motorcycles, arms crossed and smiles adorned their faces. They seemed happy enough.

As she drove farther away from them, she took another look at her map, and paper atop it. The address should be easy to find, the town was small enough to navigate around after a single drive around.

Her house was a one bedroom, one bathroom, house. It was one floor, and from what she'd seen online - it looked quite decent despite probably being centuries old. She'd obviously make some renovations, but first she needed to get her shit together.

Ochako's eyes lit up as her new home came into sight. It was placed in a small neighborhood, where houses were on both sides of a road. There were quite a few, and she noticed they looked equally as ancient as her own.

Something else that captivated this place (it wasn't just the price, she swears) was that it was centered in an area that was a good combination of rural and urban. It wasn't a city, but it wasn't farmland either. It was like the types of towns that was near a farm, except this one seemed like it had some city elements to it. The buildings were old, yes, but they also shared the vibe that despite it, it was packed and populated.

It had to be. Every house she passed on the way here looked like it was being lived in. Like life was present.

As she pulled into the driveway, she noticed the house was built on a lift, not just on the ground.

 _(Her old home with her parents didn't have a porch, so this was different.)_

"This is it," she mumbled. The squeaking of her car stopped just before she pulled the key out. Her brow furrowed in confusion, but left it at that. It's turned off by itself many times in the past, she shouldn't be surprised anymore.

Stepping out of her vehicle, Ochako immediately headed for the door, grabbing her keys on the way out. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either. It was a little into autumn, so she had to cover up a bit, but this area seemed to be slightly colder than her old home.

As she inserts the key, a deep rumble echoes from afar. It was probably one of her neighbors, although since the sound was most likely emitting from a motorcycle, she wondered if _everyone_ had one. She'd seen quite a few around, counting the small group of men standing outside the supermarket.

Ignoring the obnoxious sound, she proceeded into the house. It was exactly like what the pictures depicted, except all the furniture was gone, which was expected. Her parents got her an air mattress that she brought, so she wasn't worried about anything like that at the moment.

A sigh escaped her lips. "Okay…" she whispered to herself. "Okay. Plan. First, get groceries. Then, unpack. Okay...then I'll look around for jobs. Yeah."

Luckily, she knew where the supermarket was. Not to mention, it was of walking distance. She could do this, but no way in hell was she lugging a bunch of grocery bags around.

"No, Ochako, you aren't lazy." Stepping back outside, and making her way towards her car, Ochako opened the car and turned the car key.

It didn't do anything.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Over ten years this car has been thriving, why did it have to give out now?! Why not when she had enough money _to get it repaired_ , or better yet, _to get a new one?_

"Why?" she mumbled, her head lowering to stare at the ground. That meant that she couldn't be lazy. She had to go and carry a ton of groceries back, because her stupid car decided to break down and _die_.

Her parents would freak if they found out.

Frowning, Ochako stepped out, and slammed the door shut. _Stupid car. Stupid engine. Stupid job scarcity. Stupid everything._

She was beginning to think maybe moving here was a mistake. But she didn't, and wouldn't give up. She _literally_ just got here, no way was she backing down, she had gotten this far.

 _(She didn't make much progress, actually, but let her believe so.)_

So on she went. Her feet practically dragged against the ground, her back slumped over. She thinks if she were more pale, she could pass off as a sick person.

It was a good ten minutes until she reached the parking lot. The men she saw earlier were gone, there wasn't a single motorcycle in sight. She was kind of glad. As friendly as they looked, she couldn't trust complete strangers. Especially strangers who drove motorcycles, and wore leather jackets as if they were part of some gang.

After that, she wasn't so sure of what had happened so far. Her mind went on one track, _(food!)_ and that was it. Not much else was considered, only the basket of frozen cuisine was worth her attention.

At least that was until she realized she had to walk with all of this for ten whole minutes back to her place, while it was getting later and later in the day by the minute. Remembering this at the cash register made her panic on the inside, but the cashier looked cheerful, and she didn't want to freak them out.

After paying, and finally figuring out a good method of carrying all the bags, she left. She was even more paranoid, the sky was dark, and everything was unnaturally quiet.

Lampposts were beginning to light up. Since she found out it was a mix between a city and the countryside, that meant less lights, and more stars she could see in the sky.

Although, now, she was preoccupied with her food, and the route back to her new home.

She didn't notice her other surroundings.

"'Ey, lady! D'you have some money? Please?" A man's voice disturbed the silence. Jumping, and dropping the bags hanging on her wrists in the process, she turned around to see a lanky, scrawny, old man striding towards her. "Can I see yer purse, darlin'? I'm really low…"

Terror enveloped her as the man continued, but started to walk faster and faster. She dropped down to hurriedly pick up her bags, but her arms felt so tired and weak, she ended up having more fall. Cursing in panic, her voice shaking, she got out, "No! Go away!"

"You need to respect yer elders, girlie. Why can't you just lend me some coin, I'll leave you alone…"

 _(She couldn't let this man hurt her, or take the money she had left. She desperately needed it, she had no job, she knew nobody here...she couldn't ask her parents, they were also financially unstable...what was she supposed to do now?)_

The man got closer. He extended a skinny hand, about to grab onto her. Closing her eyes, and shrinking away, her breath caught in her throat when she heard the man groan in pain, and a thumping sound proceeded afterwards.

Her eyes slowly opened, to see the man was laying on the ground, his arms out for protection. The shadow of another person was shown on the ground. "S-Sir...I-I…"

"Picking on people just trying to mind their business is fuckin' low of you, not to mention on a defenseless woman just trying to safely get home. Didn't we let you off with a warning last time, or did you fucking forget that?" Another man. His voice was laced with disgust and anger, her eyes were watering without noticing, following up to the person who had helped her.

Her eyes widened. He was very tall, much taller than her. He sported the same leather jacket she saw the other men from before wear. His hair was light, most likely blonde, and it was spiked up all over the place. His stature was lean, but his shoulders were broad, and she knew from the thickness of his arms, that he was probably very strong. His eyes were flamed with anger, matching his voice and attitude towards her potential attacker.

"I-I'm sorry, sir...I…" The man was in fear, he wouldn't even go to meet his eyes.

"You said that last time, I'm not fucking stupid. If you needed money, then get a fuckin' job, there's plenty 'round. Going 'round terrorizing citizens because you're pathetic really grates on my nerves. If I, or any of my family, catches you doing this one more time, we're throwing you out. People like you disturb the peace we've been trying to keep 'round here for years. Fuck off."

The man was speechless. He hurried to get up, and shakily turned to me, bowing repeatedly, before running off. "I-I'm sorry, Miss. I-I'll go, you w-won't ever have to s-see me again…"

The other man scoffed. "Fuckin' pussy." A scowl rested on his face, before turning to her. "You alright? 'S not the first time he did that. We tried letting him off easy 'cause he's an elder, but this' just gotten ridiculous."

Ochako was silent for a moment. "U-Um…" Her eyes darted to the ground. All she could think of right now was how much of a coward she was. She could have escaped, but she froze up and broke down, and because of this, someone else had to go spend their time to save her ass. "Sorry…"

The man stepped back, his footsteps loud, did she make him angry?

" _Hah_? The fuck are you sorry for? You didn't do shit. 'S not your fault some dumbass went after you while you were holding a bunch of shit," he ranted, her eyes finally looking at him to see him cross his arms. "Anyway, I haven't seen you 'round before. You the chick who just moved in across the street, right?"

"I...just moved in, yes." she answered. He was so casual with a complete stranger. He was acting like he was just asking her about the weather after he just scared off someone because they were going to attack her. Maybe it was just her who saw it weirdly.

"Ah, makes sense. Saw you earlier today before I left for patrol. That house's been empty for years, I was surprised when I heard someone would be moving in it. Thought it was bullshit at first."

This piqued her interest. "Why think it was, um…bullcrap?" He cursed to much for his own good. He spouted at least almost twenty of them in the past few minutes, spanning from out loud to mumbling under his breath. It was a unique thing to hear, the people surrounding her before were very conservative and polite, rarely uttering any curse word.

It was an interesting change of pace.

He chuckled at her modesty. "It hasn't been lived in for as long as I can remember. It wasn't in amazing shape either, and was in a location in a small town that's not even run by an actual government. It's no surprise, we rarely get new people anyways." he explained, uncrossing his arms.

"Not run by a government? So there's no mayor? Or…" she trailed off, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

The man straightened his posture. "No, no mayor. You didn't do research about where you were moving? That's fuckin' stupid," he scowled.

"It was a good deal, so I...and I just assumed it was a normal town! How was I supposed to know it'd be some special snowflake place?" Why was he judging her all of a sudden? She puffed her cheeks out, and stood up, and leaned over to pick up her bags. "I have to go, anyway…I don't want to keep you any longer."

His attitude was really overwhelming. He barely spoke much to her, it hasn't even been five minutes, and he's already persecuting her right after he asked if she was fine after nearly getting attacked by some creepy old man at night.

"You're not really keeping me. My shift is almost over anyways, and I was just doin' my job." He mumbled, and walked towards her, grabbing a handful of bags from the ground. Ochako flinched at the loss of her space, and narrowed her eyes.

"You…" she started, but never finished.

"Why are you being so fuckin' stubborn? You obviously can't carry these all on your own, you keep dropping them, your arms are about to give out." He retorted before she had a chance to finish. Was he indirectly calling her weak? That not only did she have to be rescued like some damsel in distress for something that wasn't even a big deal, but he had to carry stuff for her, too?

 _(She knew she was taking it out of context, but her day's just been getting progressively worse and worse…her car broke down, so she had to walk back and forth, she got nearly attacked, and now some kind of patrol-officer guy was nagging her on her poor choices and calling her out for it. She was fed up, plus she's jobless and quite literally, dirt poor.)_

"I can carry it by myself, okay?! I'm not useless or weak. It's not a big deal. Why do you care anyways? We just met, you don't even know my name and I don't know yours. Just go back to whatever work you were doing and leave me alone." Tears gathered in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

The man was silent for a moment. His face was still scrunched up in a scowl, his eyes were intense, and she noticed in the silence that the lampposts nearby shined down on his face, more from where he moved next to her. She picked out obvious things like his hair was indeed blonde, his eyes were a scorching red color, and his pale skin had some sort of ashy or sickening tone to it.

His voice interrupted her few seconds of ogling, and she hurriedly looked away, a light blush of embarrassment appearing on her complexion.

"I do care for you. You are now citizen of our town now. As someone of my position I have to do everything in my power to keep people here safe, that means I must care for them on a certain level," he said, his voice giving off something unnatural; robotic, like he's repeated this sentence to himself and others multiple times. "So let me make sure a newbie gets home safely without being jumped again because too much is, quite literally, on her hands."

Ochako sighed. Talk about _her_ being stubborn, when he was bluntly refusing to not help.

"Fine," she mumbles, pouting her lip. He grabbed most of her stuff and stood up, and she allowed him.

He stared at her for a second, before stating, "My house is across the street from yours, anyway. It didn't matter from the beginning."

Sighing for the hundredth time, she gave in. She did in fact need help, her day had been pretty terrible so far. Plus, he was holding the majority of her stuff. Hopefully, bad luck wouldn't strike her to where he'd take what he had with him.

The more she thought about it though, it wouldn't work out. They're _literally_ neighbors, she can guess which house he was in because he mentioned that he saw her earlier. The only time she felt human presence outside her house was from that loud engine noise that had likely emitted from a motorcycle.

Plus, he mentioned patrol shifts, so he was some kind of officer, who ranted about maintaining peace. It wouldn't make sense, _especially_ after he had helped her.

Maybe there was one person she could trust already, she hadn't been here long either.

As they walked, she spent time darting her eyes from the sidewalk to the man. He didn't say anything, he didn't make much noise at all really after she agreed to let him help.

 _(At this, Ochako realized that she still didn't know his name.)_

She wanted to ask, especially when he lived right across from her. The silence, though, was oddly comforting. Disrupting it may make things more weird and awkward than they already were.

Their neighborhood was beginning to get closer and closer. It really wasn't a long walk, if that old man hadn't went after her, she'd be home safe and sound by now.

"What's your name?" she blurted, before stepping onto her driveway. He was silent for a second, but answered.

"Katsuki Bakugou," he replied, and turned to look at her. His eyes held the same intensity as before, did he always have that look in his eyes? "What about you, cheeks?"

"Cheeks?" she repeated, mouth agape at the sudden nickname. He didn't evaluate. Ochako never realized they had completely stopped in their tracks right at her driveway.

There was quite a few long periods of silence between them. Was he always so quiet? Or was he doing that because he didn't know her?

"O-Oh! Um…" she stuttered, realizing he had been staring at her the whole time, awaiting an answer. "Ochako Uraraka, that's my name."

"Oh," he muttered, and continued his way down her driveway. "C'mon, _cheeks_. 'S already late, you don't want to keep me, do you not?"

 _(She just told him her name, and he ignored it, and just continued calling her by some nickname? What was that even referencing to? Did she really have chubby cheeks? Or did he just forget her name already?)_

"H-Hey! My name's Uraraka to you, thank you very much." she retorted. She heard him chuckle under his breath. Was he doing it on purpose?

He was already up on her porch, waiting for her to come and unlock her...door? "Hey, you're not coming inside!" she shrieked.

"Do you want me to just drop everything here and let you go back and forth from inside to outside? Or do you want things to be easier? You're really fuckin' stubborn, you know. 'S kinda frustrating."

Oh. Her brain just failed, very majorly. "Uh, sorry! Sorry, um...and you're no better! You didn't have to follow me here. Like I said, I'm not weak or useless. I could've done this on my own." She ranted, shoving her key in the lock, and twisting it. Pushing it open, she stomped inside, hearing him chuckle from behind. "Why are you laughing? Am I really that funny to you?"

He walked in, and set her stuff down in a corner. She had yet to bring her luggage in, she could do that tomorrow. All she wanted to do after this, was to sleep.

"No, no. You aren't funny. I just find it amusing on how mad you are, usually that's my role."

Ochako rolled her eyes, and frowned. "You don't seem like the angry type."

Bakugou lifted a brow. "You can't judge my character so fast, you just met me. Also, I should head out." All she knew from him so far was that he had a wide range of bad language drifting in his mind, and ready to spill out of his mouth. He came off as passive to her mostly, but he was right. They just met, she has no clue what his mannerisms were, or how he acted on a daily basis.

At least he was leaving now. As grateful as she was for his help, again, all she wanted right now was for complete silence and some sleep. Maybe all her pent up anger and frustration lately would vanish over a nice, comfy nap.

"Before I go, you at least owe me a 'thank you', right, cheeks?" There was the nickname again.

" _Uraraka_. And thank you, truly, for today. I just want to pass out now, if you don't mind."

He nodded, and turned around to walk out. Walking towards him to see him off, and to lock the door, she saw him stop in his footsteps. His head turned, a hint of a smirk lingered on his face, Ochako's body stilled.

"See you 'round, pink cheeks."

She didn't have anymore energy to correct him.

He left her porch, then her driveway. She leaned against the doorframe, watching him confidently stride across the street to a house that was almost, _almost_ , identical to hers from the outside. She finally decided to shut her door, but a thought popped in her mind, making her sigh in exhaustion.

 _(My air mattress is still in the car.)_


	2. Settling In

**Hey guys! It's me, welcome to another chapter of Evanescent!! This chapter came later than what I wanted, but it's out now!! I made clear on my Twitter and AO3 that updates will be posted every other weekend**!

I **hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!! You can follow me on Twitter under @/bakunita to keep track or with how the chapters are coming.**

x-x-x

The second Ochako opened her eyes, a headache flooded her brain. Her head felt like it was on fire, and she winced in pain.

 _Migraine_ , she thought, drowsily. _Great_.

She didn't know why she had to be attacked by a migraine right when waking up. Her luck was awful, she even wished for a better day today, and so far, she wasn't doing so well. But it was only the start, maybe it would improve, it better improve, for the sole reason that she would be job searching. And again, she hoped this time, while wandering around, some old freak wouldn't come at her this time.

She was only lucky last night because of that man who was apparently patrolling. His name was _Bakugou_ _Katsuki_ , right? Her mind was newly awake, she was too tired to go and remember everything just like that.

But the more she recalled, the more suspicious it became. If he was some type of patrol officer, he sure didn't look it. He was all dressed in what seemed to be normal attire, as far as normal attire went. The leather jacket with the tons patches sewn onto it was her biggest question mark. He probably knew those guys outside the supermarket, as they all wore the same thing. Leather jackets that were patched.

Maybe, just maybe she'd run into them today.

 _(Ochako hoped otherwise, but if she was being honest with herself, she was curious.)_

Sitting upwards made her migraine worse. She had some medication in one of her suitcases which usually helped. She could go get them. Ochako sighed, and stood up, setting a hand on the wall to steady herself. Once collected, she moved to do her daily tasks, and practically flung herself out the door. She was ready for anything, she told herself this repeatedly that morning. Nothing would stand in her way, not even some random dude, or that Bakugou from the night prior.

Ochako scoffed to herself. She wouldn't get put in any bad situation ever again. That was most likely not going to happen, but her hopes and dreams have to come to life eventually, right? If she just kept hoping, positivity would eventually burrow it's way into her life.

Just as she was about to step off her porch, the fact that her car broke down, and she'd have to walk all over town to find a job so she wouldn't be homeless anytime soon, killed the mood and confidence that she was slowly attempting to build up so far today.

 _(Why was she so unlucky? Maybe Bakugou was right, she was stupid to blindly move without researching where she was going to.)_

Minutes of being locked in her head quickly dispersed, as the loud rumble of an engine echoed from across the street. Looking over, she saw someone who wasn't familiar get off a motorcycle. It seemed to be a male, but they were on the shorter side, and a big bush of dark green sat on their head. The familiar leather jacket sat on his body, too. Her theory on the people wearing them knew everyone else was apparently true.

Ochako watched as they made his way across her neighbor's lawn. He walked with a limp, but it was barely noticeable to her. The person knocked on the door that was presumably the Bakugou residence, and then entered. So they were close acquaintances.

Why was she watching so intently? It was none of her business. She shouldn't even be here right now, and she wouldn't be if she weren't acting like a complete stalker. She was supposed to be off trying to find a job.

But her thought on running into them today wasn't true, but it wasn't false either. She technically saw one.

 _(Why was she being so...curious towards them?)_

Ochako quickly sprinted off her porch and driveway, and jogged down the sidewalk towards the square. She knew where the supermarket was, that was a job option, but it wasn't very reliable when trying to pay bills for a house she thought she could afford because of a discount. The grocery store would be a last resort if she wasn't successful.

So she started from there. She looked around at the buildings surrounding the supermarket. There were coffee shops, pet clinics, supply stores, corner stores, and a tattoo parlor. Around those areas, she would definitely not be fit for those. The tattoo parlor was a flat out no, because she never worked those machines, and she wasn't an artist by any means.

Maybe she could get a decent job at the hospital. She had the medical assisting certificate, maybe that can work. Jobs in hospitals tend to be better than working at a fast food restaurant or a grocery store, so that was her first option on her list.

The problem, was that she didn't know where the hospital was, and after a few hours of looking around for jobs, the thought of walking more didn't sound appealing to her whatsoever.

She thought that the hospital, or a clinic at least, would be in an obvious spot, or would be easily spotted. Apparently in Musutafu, it was the opposite.

"Stupid special snowflake town," She muttered under her breath. No matter how annoyed or antsy she was, she had to keep moving. Bad idea, her ass. She was going to have the time of her life here - nobody, nothing, not even a stupid job would ruin that. She would have the time of her life.

Much later on, when she finally found the hospital, a big weight on her shoulders dropped. Finally, she thought. Hopefully, she would get a job, and if they didn't accept her - then she was fucked.

 _(You better wish so hard, Ochako.)_

Walking inside made her breathing more light and even. She sighed and basked in the cool air. Alike outside, it was fairly empty besides the woman on the front desk.

Ochako smiled, and walked up.

"How can I help you?" the woman asked politely, crossing her fingers on the reception desk. Ochako took a deep breath, and straightened her posture.

"Hi, I have a question...is this hospital offering any jobs right now?"

 **x-x-x**

 _A hand hovered over his arm._ _"You seem to know what you're doing," he said, lightly touching the bandage on his arm. His face had a few more scrapes and scratches, but they weren't too bad. They were as terrible as they could've been._

 _Ochako sighed, and crossed her arms. "I'd hope so. I work in the hospital, I should…" she trailed off, staring at the dark bruise on his cheek, and frowned._

 _"Nah, you're just talented."_ _A smile overtook her lips as she giggled. "I just treated your wounds, they weren't too bad. Though, next time be more careful okay? I don't want to see you hurt like this anymore."_

 _His eyes darkened, and a hint of mischief flashed in his eyes, but softened when seeing her own expression that had lost the humor._ _"I'll try." he tried._

 _"Trying isn't good enough. You won't. Just be safe." She pushed._ _His arm lifted to scratch the back of his neck. "What I do for a living is just a for-sure thing that I'll get hurt, if not eventually. What I do isn't exactly safe, Ochako. It's inevitable that I won't stay out of harm's way."_

 _She knew. She did know. She just needed the reassurance. He'd been coming back all scratched and bruised up almost every night for the past few weeks. She was worried. She was scared for him._ _"Just say it, please." Ochako begged, big brown eyes pleading to his warm ones. "Make it inevitable for you to stay safe. For me."_

 _His eyes closed as he took a long breath._ _"I won't get hurt again."_

 _His eyes were a traitor to his words._

 **x-x-x**

Something she had noticed lately was that it was more lively. The grass looked greener, there were more cars parked around, and more people were present.

Ochako felt satisfied. Maybe living here wouldn't be so bad after all. The scenery was quite beautiful, especially when it was as crowded as it was now.

Leaving the hospital had taken that heavy weight that was set on her shoulders off. Yes, there was still more to worry about, but for now, she believed she was set. All she needed next was for her car to get somehow fixed, and maybe meet people.

 _Her parents_ , she thought, _would they be proud?_

" _Come on_!" a voice yelled faintly, breaking her out of her thoughts. _Multiple_ voices, in fact. _What was going on?_

As she approached town square, what was going on occured to her - only lightly. There, right in front of the supermarket, was a crowd of people. They formed a circular shape, and they were all yelling. Mixes of encouragement and anger came from them - but Ochako kept on her thought of confusion. And for the tenth time in her head in the past few minutes, she asked herself, what the hell was going on?

Curiosity filled her being. Sprinting towards the crowd, grunting and groaning sounds became more apparent, as well as the sound of skin making contact with skin. Voices, also filled with menace and anger, bombarded her ears. Screams of curses being strung together and war cries were let out. One of them, felt somehow familiar to Ochako.

She pushed and shoved people out of the way up to the front row, and when she reached her destination, a gasp of surprise sounded from her throat.

There, in the center of all the attention along with another man who looked completely unrecognizable, was the one who had helped her the night before. Bakugou, his name was. The blonde hair and the thick build covered by the patched leather jacket was obvious and familiar to her, but seeing him wrapped up in beating the other into a bloody pulp scared her, it showed her that maybe he wasn't lying when he informed her of his malicious and hot-headed side. It had reminded her of his insult of her being an idiot for not researching where she moved to.

Her day was filled with walking nonstop for hours with the intent to hunt for a job, going to the hospital, then leaving in satisfaction only to stumble across a frightening and tensioned scene made by someone who had looked calm and rational when helping her beforehand.

He hadn't seen her, and if he did he obviously did not give a single care for it because of the want to look and spill blood. His red eyes were wide and almost popping out of his sockets in anger. Sweat lined his forehead and dripped down his face, and his movements of his body were violent, sharp, and in a way, calculated.

And to Ochako's horror, despite all this, despite witnessing his real, true colors, she found herself worrying over his bloody nose, bruised face, and split lip. She found herself observing and losing her mind over how his actions and attacks to the other party were way more sluggish and slow than they were moments ago. She noticed how he was the one who had been stringing curses together, and how every few words got cracked from his strained voice.

She was surprised that the words stop it was seconds away from tumbling from her lips. And thankfully, they never dropped because men pushed away more civilians in a hurry, to pull Bakugou off the other accomplice, and to restrain him. The boys who joined also wore patched leather jackets, and Ochako recognized them, too.

There was the spiky-haired redhead and the blonde man from yesterday outside the supermarket, but also one that was unfamiliar, who was a black headed male who looked way older than herself and the others. Eyebags and bloodshot eyes that was accompanied by a face left unshaven made her jump. Especially when he whipped out some kind of tape or cloth to restrain the unknown fighter.

"Stop struggling at once, or we'll make you." The tired man threatened.

Ochako never paid mind to the one Bakugou was beating up - and Ochako was glad she didn't because once her wide brown eyes landed, chills ran down her spine, and goosebumps appeared on her arms.

He looked ragged and crazy. Even as he stood still in the restraints, he still looked like an old feral and wild animal. His eyes were bloodshot, and his eyes were small. His teeth were bared, and he looked worse off than Bakugou in terms of injuries.

"Struggle and you'll end up much more worse off than intended," The man threatened, and gestured to the other men. "Go check on Bakugou, and help the crowd disperse."

The men nodded, and went to work. "Yes, sir!" They said. Ochako watched their interaction, and how the ones clothed in patched leather handled the people away with care. The redhead approached her, and gave a uneasy smile - which surprised her because his teeth were sharp like ones of a shark.

"Sorry you had to see that, miss! I promise we have it all handled!" he scratched the back of his neck. "I haven't seen you 'round before. I heard a chick just moved here, I take it that's you?"

 _(Word traveled quickly, though it's not surprising seeing as the town's so small.)_

Ochako nodded. "Uh, yeah. That's me," she said sheepishly, before introducing herself. "Uraraka Ochako."

"Kirishima Eijiro! Welcome to Musutafu, Uraraka, hopefully you won't see trouble like this for a while. We try to keep things as civil as we can." We try?

Ochako smiled. He seemed kind enough. Her eyes trailed away from his face, to behind him towards the others. Bakugou was the first thing she noticed - as well as the big red splotch on his cheek, a split lip, and a bit of blood running down his nose. His chest moved heavily, seemingly the adrenaline hadn't left yet, he had to be tired after that, right?

"Is he okay?" she asked the sharp-toothed boy. He looked confused for a second, and turned around.

"You mean Bakugou?" he asked, turning back to face her. She nodded in response. Kirishima's eyes widened, before looking back again. "He should be fine. He'll have to wait for it to heal, but he can handle all sorts of pain."

The older man from before called after Kirishima. "I have to go! They need me. Welcome again, miss! Have a great day!" He started to walk away, until Ochako's voice betrayed her and unwillingly spoke out.

"Do you mean he doesn't have anyone to treat his wounds? Not even go to a doctor?" she asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Was that what he'd meant? If so, why was this something he couldn't go to the doctor for? He could have broken his nose.

Kirishima's face turned to stone so quickly it almost made Ochako jump. "That's for us to know. He can take it, anyway." His sunny expression returned in a flash, she almost forgot the blankness from before. Almost. "He's fine! Don't worry."

"I can treat him, if that'd be okay. I'm certified in that kind of area, so I can check up on him. I live right across the street from him anyway, so if that's okay?" She blurted out in one breath. Her eyes widened.

 _(They're weird. Why are you offering to spend more time with weird people?)_

Kirishima's eyebrows raised. "I'll ask boss, this stuff's serious, so it could work out. If you don't mind of course, he's a handful." Oh, I know this by now.

"It's fine. He can consider it a payback, if he wants."

Kirishima nodded, and went off towards the other men. She now began to notice the predicament of exactly what was going on.

The older man still had Bakugou's attacker restrained in the bandage-like material, and he seemed to be talking seriously and giving orders. Was he an enemy, the attacker? The other blonde and Bakugou were listening, in which the latter didn't even look phased by his injuries.

Kirishima walked up to Bakugou, and touched his shoulder, continuing on to whispering, which she assumed the topic was about her offer. It further was proven after Bakugou's familiar red eyes linked with her worried brown ones, and it sent a weird warm feeling to surge through her belly. His gaze was intense - if only set on her for a second, they returned back to his companion.

Seconds later, Bakugou nodded to him and turned to the older man, and shared a glance before walked towards her. Ochako took a step back - not out of fear, but of how heavy his footsteps sounded and how ugly his injuries looked. The redness on his cheek slowly began to fade into a cooler color - and soon it'd be a full on purple bruise.

" _Round-face_ ," he said loudly, the nickname sarcastically falling from his lips. She yearned to correct him, but stopped when he crossed his arms, the squeak of the leather from his jacket making its presence known. "You now some hot-shot doctor, or what?"

Far from that, she wanted to reply.

"Just the basic necessities. And it's _Uraraka_. Not whatever crude name you just uttered." she said, standing up to him. She almost forgot everything she'd just witnessed of him, but for some weird and otherworldly reason, she didn't feel fear.

 _(He just beat up a man to a bloody pulp. How are you unafraid?)_

"Okay, _Uraraka_." He replied smartly. "So your offer to fix my shit up was quite surprising, especially when the other fucker turned out to be just as worse." he said, rolling his eyes after mentioning the other man.

Ochako shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I only know you, and we live quite close. Plus, again, take this as a thank you from helping me yesterday."

Bakugou looked at her more intently. "Makes sense. Am I granted the permission to have you as my personal doctor? I'm a bad boy, so I tend to piss people off." he said, a joke edging at the end of his sentence. Ochako smiled a little at that.

"Only if you don't annoy me too much."

"Me? Annoying? I'd fuckin' never." He cursed, and uncrossed his arms. "You gonna fix me up here on the street, or are we going somewhere else?"

Ochako's eyes closed for a moment. "Ah." He wouldn't want to go to a hospital, for whatever reason he had for that objection anyway. Here, obviously, was a no-go. She had minimal medical supplies at her own place, but that should do. "You can schedule appointments at my place. I have a couple useful necessities for those ugly marks on you, so that works?" She asked, walking away from him only to turn back around.

"That can work, _pink cheeks_. Lead the way for the crippled." He joked, which kind of sent her on edge. He seemed to be the person, when you look at him first, as a person who'd hate jokes, yet he was somehow keeping the conversation light and playful.

She also wouldn't address the nickname usage anymore.

 **x-x-x**

"Fuckin' ow?!" His voice exploded. "Why the fuck does that shit hurt more than the fucker's initial punch?!"

Her head started to hurt. They were here sitting in her house, on her air-mattress, with Uraraka only literally just spraying disinfectant on a cut on his forehead that had been hidden by his hair, and he was whining. _Whining_.

"Stop crying, it's not that bad. Aren't you supposed to be a bad boy that can handle pain?" She poked at him, spraying it again, him wincing in response.

"First off, moon-face, I am very bad. I can handle pain. But this shit was just made for torture," he grumbled, and rolled his eyes. "The fuck even is that?"

"Disinfectant. You were rolling around in the dirt while sweating, so that's why I cleaned your face up and sprayed this on you. It has alcohol in it, so it shouldn't get infected," she explained, slapping a band-aid on his forehead. "Your nose isn't broken either, so that's good. It'll just get a little bruised. Your lip will heal fine, and if you apply some ice to that cheek, you can down the swelling and bruising."

Bakugou's eyes darkened on her. "For someone who said they know the basics, you're quite knowledgeable."

"It is kind of basic. I'll take that as a compliment anyways," she said, and walked off towards the fridge, taking the ice tray out of the freezer, and a plastic bag out of a drawer. Preparing an old little ice pack was easy. "Switch between putting this on your nose bridge and cheek."

Pressing the homemade ice pack to his cheek, he grabbed it from her and put it back on. "How long do I keep it pressured?"

"Until the swelling goes down, at least." she answered, sitting back down next to him. "If you don't mind me asking, what even was that?"

Bakugou's body stiffened. He was silent for a few moments, until blandly answering, "It's kind of supposed to be classified," Classified? "I can't say anything to you because you're just a civilian, and you just moved here, but that guy wasn't from here, that's all I can say. I was just merely doing my job."

 _(What was his job exactly?)_

"Your job? You mentioned patrol, but you don't look like an officer to me," she observed aloud. "I don't mean that in a rude way, it's just…"

"It's fine. Me and my family run this town to the best of our abilities. You can tell who's the real deal if they're wearing the same type of leather jacket as I am, though I'm a higher up. So if you ever see anyone wearing it, you're safe." he explained, patting his jacket. Now that they were closer, and in light, she could examine what exactly it was.

"May I see? If you don't mind." she asked, and he nodded in approval.

Her eyes examined his jacket. There were numerous patches sewn onto it, way more than the other guys. The patch that read " _vice president in training_ " on the right shoulder interested her, as well as the giant design that read **YUUEI HEROES** on the back, the most.

"What do these mean?" she asked softly, fingers trailing over both patches. She felt him shift, and let out a deep breath.

"I'm currently getting groomed and trained to be vice president of our...family. Once it's done, that'll get removed and the vice president symbol will replace it. **YUUEI HEROES** is what we call ourselves."

 _(Family?)_

"Oh," she muttered, and finally met his eyes. She hadn't realized how close they were, and noticing it now, how her face was extremely close to him, made her stomach drop, and immediately pulled back. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize I was in your space…" she apologized frantically.

Bakugou shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said nonchalantly. A smirk twisted onto his features. "What? Are you that scared of me?"

"I am not afraid of you," she pouted, turning the opposite direction.

 _(Why was he still here again?)_

A shift on the air mattress sounded in the room. "Not even after today?" His voice was small.

She shook her head, back still facing him. "No, I'm not. You were doing your job. Just because you got a little violent towards someone supposedly bad, isn't scary," she mumbled. A smile painted itself over her lips, and she turned around. "I guess now I can say you were right about the angry part of you."

Her smile was bright, and Ochako wanted it to be directed at him, and him only right now. The small question not even after today had sounded insecure and tiny to her. Did he always think like this, or was it just a one time thing?

She couldn't see his expression, his reaction, to her words because she had closed her eyes. She was curious what he thought of it, how he took her words, but deep down she was afraid, too.

But as a chuckle fell from his mouth, a sense of security filled every fibre of her being. Opening her eyes felt easy, and so did the smile on her face that quickly expanded.

To Ochako, his face was impossibly beautiful. Not in a romantic sense, but where he just looked like a piece of art from a high-class museum. Something you couldn't touch, or you'd smear your fingerprints on it, leaving a stained mark. That was how he was, how he seemed and looked.

His shoulders - his body was shaking. The expression he held entranced her. Every small crevice on him had been highlighted in that moment. He had dimples, and they were showing because of the wide grin spread across his face. His teeth were white, and his lips were stained a light pink color, and his skin was mostly smooth - only marked with eye bags, light freckles, and stressful age marks plus his injuries, but his shade was warm and healthy, and it translated to her heart. His nose, though a bit bruised, was crooked by how intensely he was smiling. But the most noticeable thing to Ochako were his eyes, which were painted a dark, velvet red. They held so much emotion in them, the relief, surprise, and maybe even slight happiness had proudly shown in the reflection.

"That's relieving," he breathed.

The view of him like this was much better than anything she'd seen in the past few days. The scenery, the feeling of getting a job at the hospital, the feeling as she laid eyes on the food from the supermarket, could not compare to the image being portrayed in front of her.

And it heavily inspired her.


End file.
